WHEN I open my daily newspapers (yes, I still read at least two!), I now start with the technology news.
One AI headline follows another. There is talk about rapid developments in stock prices and about AI companies promising enormous productivity gains and, as a result, massive reductions in staff.
What do you think? Where and for what do we still need people?
AI can analyze huge amounts of data. This makes it possible to identify patterns and connections from virtually unlimited numbers of examples. Many of the AI applications we know today are based on so-called Large Language Models. These language models can scan texts and generate coherent answers.
The texts analyzed contain what is called codified-or explicit-knowledge: things that we can write down, such as process descriptions, work instructions, recipes, or scientific analyses.
AI can therefore not only take over some tasks from us but can also access more codified knowledge than any individual person ever could. That is enormously helpful.
But what makes us humans go far beyond this?
We can do more than simply apply explicit knowledge, because we also possess so-called implicit (tacit) knowledge. It develops through experience, practice, intuition, and values.
Many years ago, I asked a welder how he knew when a weld would hold. He answered: ‘I can feel it.’
(A small side note: he and his colleagues welded better than the machines.)
The philosopher Michael Polanyi explained this as early as the 1960s: ‘We know more than we can say.’
But what is never written down cannot become part of AI training data. Consequently, a great deal is lost if we leave out the ‘human dimension.’
Especially when it comes to assessing complex situations and making well-founded decisions, we need both: the interaction between explicit and implicit knowledge.
Do you remember how you accumulated your implicit knowledge for your current job? What have you tried yourself? What experiences did you gain abroad or learn from more experienced colleagues? Did you observe others, work alongside them, or receive unsolicited advice?
Probably it was a mixture of all these things.
This is particularly important in education and during the first years of a career, but it also plays an important role when people move into new jobs. A handover document is usually not enough. And there is a reason why the success of the dual vocational training system is based on two components: theory and practice.
At present, however, we are seeing fewer and fewer young people being trained and fewer and fewer internship opportunities being offered because AI is taking over traditional entry-level jobs. I definitely don’t think this is a smart strategy.
In the short term, it may save costs. But where will the experienced employees for the first levels of management come from in a few years – people who have the necessary judgment to make the right decisions in the interests of the company?
Those who save money in the short term will later pay a high price for the resulting vacuum.
And remember: An AI strategy without strategic workforce planning therefore carries a significant risk.
The future of work is already shaped in classrooms long before the first job begins. It starts in homework, in internships, and in the moments when students begin to test what they know against what the real-world demands.
I hope your company has already taken this into account. Otherwise, you may have impressive AI pilot projects and measurable KPIs-but you may not know how to transfer these successfully into the organization in a way that creates value.
To do that, you need to understand and manage the interaction between AI and humans. AI won’t make us obsolete – it will make us superhuman!
Let me close with the encouraging statement of Labor Secretary Tolentino:
AI offers significant opportunities to improve productivity, innovation, public service delivery and economic growth. However, he cautioned that the AI technology could also disrupt labor markets and displace workers if safeguards are not put in place. He added that AI must complement human labor, not replace human dignity and judgement. Technology must move the country forward, but it must never leave workers behind.
Secretary Tolentino, please see to it that the Philippine Central Government and the Local Governments follows your ideas!